UK: Jacqueline O'Donovan, managing director of London's waste management company O'Donovan Waste Disposal, has won the prestigious Institute of Directors' (IoD) London and South East Family Business Director of the Year award. O'Donovan was recognised for being a leader in her field and setting the benchmark in terms of best practice across both logistics and waste operations.

"I'm so honoured to have been recognised as Family Business Director of the Year by the IoD. It's one of the most prestigious accolades to achieve at a personal level in business. I'm thrilled that my commitment and passion for improving standards, safety and training has not only filtered across our team but the industry as a whole," said O'Donovan.

O'Donovan Waste Disposal is focused on handling the construction and demolition waste produced across London and the South East. Established in 1959 by her late father Joe, Jacqueline joined the family business at the age of 17 and took the managing director role at 19. She has grown the business to turn over Euro19.1m/yr and has been recognised as an exemplar for best practice by Transport for London and London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Following this award win, Jacqueline will now represent the London and South East region at the national ceremony later in 2015.

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) is looking to diversify its fuels mixture to include other types of oils and possibly biofuels. The company has signed an agreement with the engineering faculty at Asuncion National University (FIUNA) to certify the use of biofuels. INC's president Jorge Mendez believes that, from 2016, INC may start using a variety of fuels, following a US$50m investment in its furnace. This could save US$22m/yr, but it will not necessarily mean that biofuel will be used.

India: Bangalore's first refuse-derived fuel (RDF) processing plants are expected to be operational by the end of June 2015. Production will start at low levels before rising to meeting full production capacity. Local government body, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), is building two units at Kannahalli and Seegehalli, which will have the capacity to segregate and generate 140t/day of RDF, according to local media.

"We have already roped in four cement manufacturers. There is a lot of demand for RDF and when manufacture starts, we can be assured of consumption," said Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Chairman Vaman Acharya. Bangalore has the potential to generate more than 500t/day of RDF.

It is planned for the RDF produced in Bangalore to be used by cement plants in Kalaburagi district in the north of Karnataka state. However this may more than double the price of the RDF due to transportation costs.

Egypt: Lafarge Industrial Ecology (Ecocem) has signed two major contracts to manage and operate existing refuse-derived fuel (RDF) platforms in Suez and Qalyubeya in Egypt.

In an effort to continue its efficient waste management processes, the company has signed a year agreement to renovate and upgrade the platforms in Suez and another separate 10-year agreement to manage and operate the existing platforms in Qalyubeya. Lafarge Ecocem has already added a new production line to the Suez platform and plans an additional line within one year of signing its contract with the governorate. The plant will produce 42,000t/yr of RDF and the investment will total US$1.66m.

Ecocem has also already added an extra line to the Qalyubea plant, in addition to renovating one production line. The company's future investments in the governorate will increase the RDF production capacity by 32,000t/yr to 280,000t/yr. Both investments at the Qalyubeya plant were funded by GIZ and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with a total Investment of US$1m.

"In line with our 'Building Egypt 2030' campaign, Lafarge is committed to help solve the issue of waste in Egypt and to continue taking the necessary steps towards sustainable development," said Hussein Mansi, CEO of Lafarge Egypt. "At Lafarge Egypt, we feel it is our responsibility as a leader in building solutions to be the major proponents in waste management and plan to continue finding many opportunities to make a difference."

Building on its waste management strategy, Lafarge Ecocem is committing to several additional long-term contracts with different governorates to help convert municipal solid wastes to alternative fuels. In addition, in March 2015, Lafarge Egypt and Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding S A E signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a waste management framework of municipal and agricultural waste.

Lafarge Egypt and Ecocem have implemented many projects over the past three years in order to increase the use of alternative fuels and aim to achieve an average fuel substitution rate of 25% by the end of 2015. More than 260,000t of waste have been processed and fired in Lafarge's Sokhna plant since 2013, an equivalent of 100,000t of fossil fuels.